Who We Are
The Summit Companies is a family of individual companies dedicated to providing affordable and relevant strategic guidance and solutions to businesses and not-for-profit organizations. The structure of Summit is unique and has been tailored to meet the needs of organizations in our market. Each company within the Summit family focuses on a unique area of business strategy, allowing that company and its team to provide focused consulting and solutions where needed. Each company is further staffed by consultants and support staff with relevant business experience, training, and education in that field. In addition, the companies are further structured to be able to efficiently deliver comprehensive integrated solutions for clients who can benefit from guidance and support in more than one facet of business operations.
Finance Solutions
Every business leader can benefit from having trusted advisers available to them to assist by providing experienced advice and insight regarding critical business decisions.
Strategic Planning
Summit can offer a variety of types and levels of strategic planning services, tailored to meet the specific needs and situation of your organization.
Human Resources Solutions
Summit can provide you with the resources to build an effective team, improve the performance of your employees, and comply with the ever-increasing employment and payroll regulations.
Executive-As-A-Service
Summit’s Outsourced Executive Services allow for small and mid-sized businesses to be able to add experienced executive leadership and guidance to their teams without incurring the time and expense of hiring a full time executive staff person.
Our Story
Since Summit was founded in 2005, it has greatly expanded the scope and focus of its operations. During that time, it has moved to larger offices, added additional locations, and grown exponentially in terms of the size of its team. During that time, however, much has stayed the same. Summit has endeavored to display the same commitment today to providing our hundreds of clients with value that we did when we had only a handful of clients. We also have worked hard to protect the values that we feel are at the core of our character and vision. Furthermore, we have always returned to a mission that communicates our path to delivering a lasting impact in our community. Even as that mission has been clarified and updated over the years, the message has stayed the same.
We invite you to come learn more about how we are trying to carry out that mission today and to challenge us to show you how it shapes the services and products that we provide and how it guides our relationship with each of our individual team members. We are proud of how far we have come and grateful for the many blessings and opportunities that we have experienced along the way, but we are even more excited about where we are headed. We hope that you will allow us to share that vision with you and consider how you might be able to benefit from being a part of it.
OUR MISSION: To elevate organizations through knowledgeable guidance and support, to strengthen communities through leadership and education, and to provide rewarding experiences to professionals passionate about serving others.
Summit is committed to providing unique value to our employees as well as our clients. We recognized from the beginning that no investment in resources or marketing could ever replace a strong team of experienced consultants, and so we have created a structure that we feel offers a singular opportunity for qualified professionals to realize both their financial and personal goals through building a consulting book of business with Summit. This opportunity can be seen in our Employee Value Proposition:
Summit offers a unique model that allows team members a high degree of independence and flexibility to pursue their long-term goals, while still offering the structure and resources to be as effective as possible.
Flexibility and Ownership
Each of our consultants determines the type of services that they will provide, the clients with whom they will work, and what their fees for those services will be. In addition, we do not ask our consultants to sign non-compete or non-piracy agreements on their book of business. We want our consultants to be able to build a book of business with the peace of mind that they will have the opportunity to realize the financial benefits of that book of business.
Building Value
Because of the financial opportunities that exist at Summit, our consultants usually intend to finish their careers at Summit. It is our commitment to them that Summit will provide for the opportunity for the books of business that they build to provide as much financial benefit as possible for them and their families. Because it can be difficult today for an independent consultant to realize market value for their business, very few are able to sell their client book for an amount anywhere near what it could be worth. Summit consultants have the peace of mind to know that they have a guaranteed buy out available at any time of their choosing.
Earning Potential
Our consultants are paid based on the revenues that they generate for Summit, similar to the risk and opportunity that consultants experience while working independently. The key difference is that because of the infrastructure and resources that Summit has in place, those same consulting fees can generate more profit as part of Summit than they could as a standalone book of business. Summit then passes those extra profits on to the consultants, providing a unique financial opportunity.
Support
Building a managing a successful book of consulting clients takes a lot of time and resources. Investing in the necessary software, marketing, and administrative resources can be challenging and expensive for independent consultants. Summit offers its team access to an administrative support team, a full sales and marketing department, and to some of the most powerful software and resources available on the market today. It is always nice to have a strong team at your back and to know that you can tap into a wealth of experience and knowledge at any time.
Qualifications
Summit can only maintain that value to our team by being selective about who we bring on board. That process is as much for the benefit of potential consultants as it is for Summit and our existing team. Over the years, we have learned who tends to best thrive under our model and who does not, and we are committed to only bringing on team members who we feel that we can help meet their professional goals. These are a few of the qualifications for which we are looking:
- Significant expertise and education. While the qualifications for consultants will vary depending on their specific professional focus, most of our consultants possess advanced degrees and/or professional designations. In addition, we typically look for consultants with at least ten years of experience in their field, and our average consultant has at least twenty-five years of experience.
- The ability to build a book of business. We have a pretty standard rule of thumb that we follow: If a consultant thinks that they could be successful in building a solo consulting practice and is considering doing so, then we can probably help them be even more successful. If a consultant doesn’t think that they have the skills, experience, personality, or desire to attempt it on their own, then we are probably not a fit for them. While we are committed to providing as much support as possible, much of a consultant’s level of success will still be determined by them. In addition, it is essential to us that everyone on the team is as committed to supporting other team members as the rest of the team is to them. In order to maintain that balance, we are look for consultants that can contribute everyone’s success.
- A shared commitment to Summit’s values and culture. Summit’s mission, vision, and values go far beyond numbers and financial measures. We are looking for people who understand, share, and are eager to commit to our vision for the impact that we are striving to have. For those who are, we feel that a career at Summit will be one of the most fulfilling experiences of their lives.
Summit is always open to adding new companies to our model, although we are also very selective in how we evaluate those potential partnerships. In order to ensure that such a partnership is a good fit to both sides, we consider factors such as the industry, culture, personnel, and long-term goals of that company’s stakeholders. If those areas align, then we will work with the other company to try to design a partnership that adds value to Summit and to the other organization. Below are just a few of the benefits of becoming part of Summit.
Branding
A recognized and trusted brand that can increase the exposure of your organization and team and help generate and close additional business.
Continuity and Succession
Most businesses do not have a strong succession plan in place. Members of the Summit Companies have a infrastructure of support with the capacity to protect the client base and value that you have created.
Business Support
Being part of Summit means having most aspects of business management and administration handled for you, allowing you to focus on your core business.
Referrals and Account Rounding
Member companies are able to generate additional revenue by referring business in almost any aspect of business strategy, and also benefit from being able to receive referrals from all other divisions and team members.
The Summit Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that serves as the corporate vehicle for charitable contributions of The Summit Companies.
About the Foundation
The Summit Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that serves as the corporate vehicle for charitable contributions of The Summit Companies, a consulting firm headquartered in Bristol, Tennessee. The Summit Foundation is primarily funded by contributions from The Summit Companies, its employees, and its customers. The Summit Foundation was founded in 2016 and is governed by a Board comprised of employees and owners of The Summit Companies. The Summit Foundation supports a variety of programs and organizations that in turn provide a wide-range of services to the communities that they support. While many of these programs are located in the communities where The Summit Companies’ offices are located, the Summit Foundation has also provided considerable support to overseas missions, primarily in Haiti.
Focus & Funding
The Foundation’s mission is to enable worthy organizations to expand their impact on the communities and people that they serve. That mission is not restricted to specific categories of organizations, but the Summit Foundation does focus largely on sustainable programs that impact economic development and that adhere to collective impact principles. Those programs have included educational and literacy initiatives, micro-finance, health and wellness programs, and Christian missions.
Supported Programs & Organizations
The Summit Foundation is honored to be able to partner with and support many worthy organizations. While the Foundation is proud of the contributions that it is able to make to their work, without the tireless work of the volunteers, staff, and Boards of these organizations, the financial contributions themselves would serve no purpose. We thank each of these organizations and programs for the work that they are doing and are excited to help share that work with others.
Give
All contributions, whether to the general fund or to a specific campaign, will be 100% passed on to meet needs, and no administrative or overhead fees are ever deducted from your contribution. If you would like to mail a check, please make the check payable to “Summit Foundation” and mail to: Summit Foundation 1227 Volunteer Parkway Bristol, TN 37620. Please note on the check if you would like to designate your contribution to a specific campaign or need.
